Cate Campbell: Qld swim queen to skip Commonweath Games in quest for 2024 Olympics

No other Aussie swimmer has competed in five Olympics, but Queensland’s own Cate Campbell has announced her plan to be in the pool in 2024 – but it will come at the cost of another major event.

Queensland swim queen Cate Campbell will start a quest for an incredible fifth Olympics by skipping the Commonwealth Games as part of a six-month sabbatical from the sport.

Campbell, 29, announced to her 113,000 Instagram followers on Saturday that she had set her sights on competing at the 2024 Olympics, unveiling a new team and a new dream to make it to Paris.

No Aussie swimmer has ever competed in five Olympics’, with only a handful of swimmers around the world – including the legendary American Michael Phelps, making the journey.

Campbell, who carried the flag with basketball star Patty Mills at the Tokyo Olympics last year, said she had spent six months reflecting on whether to continue her illustrious career.

Olympic swimmer Cate Campbell has announced on Instagram she will be trying to make her 5th Olympic team but at the same time saying she will not compete at this years Commonwealth Games. Picture: Instagram/@cate_campbell

To ensure her longevity, she said she would not compete at this year’s Commonwealth Games in the UK, but would instead take a six-month break to travel around Europe.

She will also join a new coach, Damien Jones from the Centenary Pool in Brisbane, when she returns to training.

“Paris is going to be the main goal, so I am going to take my time getting back into peak performance to make sure my body can handle the strain,” she said.

Campbell, who made her Olympic debut in Beijing as a teenager, would be 32 by the time of the Paris Games, and in a logjam of rising sprint stars.

Campbell was part of two gold medal-winning relay teams at the Tokyo Olympics and took bronze in the 100m freestyle.